Racing has seasons so the racers dont drop dead or have their legs fall off. Also there needs to be open dates in the calender for different kinds of races. A lot of people race in a lot of different formats. Road, track, cyclecross, TT, crit, mtb. The fall and winter have some TT series. I raced at Piru Sunday to get a baseline reference to start training for next season that will start in Feb. Racing once a month out there will help me evaluate progress working up to speed training in Dec. and Jan.

We used to have races through October. I've heard a few opinions on why that isn't so anymore:
1. People start to wind down after national and state championships
2. The racing season starts earlier now (early Feb as opposed to late Feb?)
3. Cyclocross took over the tail end of the season
I don't know the real reason, as I've been out of the scene for almost 10 years now.

"Well, I guess you can cut the arts as much as you want... Sooner or later, these kids aren't going to have anything to read or write about." (Richard Dreyfus as Glenn Holland)

there will be cross for much of the winter, and there will probably be practice track races.

Speaking of track, there is a Madison on October 20th at the Encino Velodrome. If anybody wants to see people slinging each other around on bikes with no brakes in some tricky traffic, it's a blast to watch!

"Well, I guess you can cut the arts as much as you want... Sooner or later, these kids aren't going to have anything to read or write about." (Richard Dreyfus as Glenn Holland)

We used to have races through October. I've heard a few opinions on why that isn't so anymore:
1. People start to wind down after national and state championships
2. The racing season starts earlier now (early Feb as opposed to late Feb?)
3. Cyclocross took over the tail end of the season
I don't know the real reason, as I've been out of the scene for almost 10 years now.

In the 1980s the road season ended with a road race and crit in Solvang at the end of September. Imagine sharing a motel room in Solvang with about 10 riders including Mark Whitehead and Steve Hegg -- not really fun. A series of mountain time trials in October followed Solvang. The last uphill time trial was typically Mt Baldy around Halloween weekend.

Why all of that went away, I'm not sure. The season definitely starts earlier now but that may be because the of the season ending earlier.

HImagine sharing a motel room in solvang with about 10 riders including Mark Whitehead and Steve Hegg

I remember Mark in the 90's. He coached some of my competitors. He was a bit of a hot head (I think that was a nickname he earned), but Steve was a pretty mellow guy. Of course, both of them probably matured a bit between the 80's and the 90's.

I also remember the Baldy time trial. I never liked hill climbs, so I never did that one. All I ever needed was an event that highlights my weakest point.

"Well, I guess you can cut the arts as much as you want... Sooner or later, these kids aren't going to have anything to read or write about." (Richard Dreyfus as Glenn Holland)

I remember Mark in the 90's. He coached some of my competitors. He was a bit of a hot head (I think that was a nickname he earned), but Steve was a pretty mellow guy. Of course, both of them probably matured a bit between the 80's and the 90's.

I also remember the Baldy time trial. I never liked hill climbs, so I never did that one. All I ever needed was an event that highlights my weakest point.

I shared a room with both of those guys the night before our friend's wedding last year. I've known them both since I was racing juniors in the late 80s and early 90s. They are cut from the same cloth. Steve is mellow when you are having a friendly conversation, but did you ever race against him in the 90's? He yelled a lot. Funny thing is he never yelled at me, I guess because I always took my pulls... or at least was trying to take them. A couple of my friends race for the pro team that Steve directs. He still yells a lot. Mark currently coaches my best friend. Mark's nickname is "Meathead".

As far as the race season it does end early now. Kind of a bummer, I don't think people would be so burnt out if they didn't start having races in January.

No, they were both old guys as far as I was concerned. I raced juniors in the mid 90's. The only time I ever paid attention to Steve (if I recall correctly) was when he put out a decent pursuit time in '95. I heard plenty of Mark yelling because he was cheering on and coaching one of my closest competitors (Mike Seely).

"Well, I guess you can cut the arts as much as you want... Sooner or later, these kids aren't going to have anything to read or write about." (Richard Dreyfus as Glenn Holland)

Furnace Creek is not a "typical" road race, nor is it really in SoCal. Certainly not for someone just getting started in racing.

Oh, come on, it starts in socal and ends in socal. What more could you want? We don't need no steenkin drafting.... Course doesn't look too bad from oh, the drivers seat of the support vehicle. Besides, it's a race and it's in October.